Various kinds of handbrushes have been used by mankind over many centuries. Still the most commonly known brushes today are those that comprise an elongate head to one end of which is attached a handle, the head comprising a plurality of bristles bound in bundles, each bundle being fixed in a hole provided in the head. The means of fixing could, for instance, include dipping of the bristles in lacquer, pitch or another binding agent and introduction thereof into the holes, or alternatively, by means of staples or the like.
To be able to market handbrushes at acceptable prices, either low-cost labour or else, capital intensive automatic or semi-automatic machines are employed, the latter of which produces large numbers of brushes of the aforementioned kind. However, a disadvantage of such conventional brushes comprising separate bristles is that the bristles are often dislodged from the holes in which they are fixed, especially in the case of brushes of which the heads are made of wood, and where such heads are intermittently used with water, causing the head to swell and contract repeatedly. Other brushes exist in which the head and the bristles are made of plastics materials, with the head having a plurality of receptacles for receiving the bundles of bristles. The bristles of such brushes are usually fixed by heating and subsequent solidification of the plastics material of the head around the bristles.